Hi babes. Are you ready to take your holiday hair to a new level? I am super excited to announce a HTHG Winter Feature on Hairstyling with Foraged Winter Greenery and Berries to get you through the holidays and into the dark days with some beauty and color.

  Walking around the city in the late fall has really inspired me to dive back into decorated hairstyling using the natural world as a muse….This is a SERIOUS passion of mine that I have really enjoyed exploring on HTHG.

I was lucky enough to team up with my friend Corrina for this fun project. She is an urban farmer and an incredibly rad chick who happens to share my love of plants and flowers as medicine and decoration. You will see her modeling some lovely hairstyles in tutorials this winter, and rocking some seriously pretty foliage.

Before our first shoot, she posted this pretty foraging picture on her Instagram.

This photo makes me feel like Spring is overrated when it comes to beautiful plants and foliage. Who needs flowers when you can have insane purple beauty berries???? Here is my foraging shot……

You can see our minds think alike:) I asked Corrina to help me kick off this series by writing a little ode to foraging article to share. Below are her lovely words.

 Ode to Foraging

By Corrina Yu

Foraging can be a magical and empowering experience. For me, It helps me feel inspired by the power of plants and reminds me how rich we are to live in the wonderful Pacific Northwest. Let’s be honest, it can be a tough transition to get out of the house when it’s dark and stormy. This little post will hopefully help one explore some new spots in their city! First step, brew some tea, take a walk, bring clippers and a basket…

Everything in the hairstyles to come were foraged in the city, and there are so many possibilities for how you can design yours, based on what you find around you. In the cold winter days, anything with bright color really pops out! Beauty berries are my new magical plant and the strong purple color keeps well even after drying out. Adding flora and berries to a braid can be uplifting and make you feel like a goddess. An added bonus is you can use some of the plants for medicine! For example:

“perched high in an old cedar tree. I felt held in those dense swooping branches, as if in the arms of a mother.”-Elise Krohn (PNW herbalist and Native Foods Specialist)

Cedar Respiratory Steam

This is one of my favorite ways to fight the winter lung crud including sinus infections and coughs. Here is why I love it:
• Cedar improves blood flow so you can take in more oxygen, clear waste products, and get more nutrients to tissue.
• It activates immune cells, which directly fight microbes and also clean up the waste products of infection.
• Essential oils in cedar inhibit bacterial and fungal growth.

All you need is a few sprigs of cedar, a bowl, scissors, a towel and hot water for steaming. Cut the cedar leaf into small pieces until you have ½ to 1 of a cup in a medium sized bowl. Pour boiled water over the cedar until the bowl is half full. Place your face over the steam at a comfortable distance and cover your head with a towel. Breath deep! Try to steam for at least 5 minutes. Pour more hot water in if necessary. Steam 2-5 times a day. For chronic coughs or sinus congestion steaming more often may be necessary. Variations: Other herbs including fir needle, pine needle, eucalyptus leaf, rosemary, peppermint, yarrow or lavender can also be added. You can add one to two drops of essential oil if desired. Eucalyptus helps to thin mucus, peppermint is anti-inflammatory and rosemary stimulates circulation. Many essential oils including lavender and those mentioned have antimicrobial or immune stimulating properties.

Please stay tuned for the hair and foraged beauties to come in the coming months on HTHG. Hopefully the inspiration will help you brighten up the dark Winter days to come.

xoxo, HTHG and Corrina:)